Recently a news story about a folk music session at the Greenbank Pub in Bristol caught my eye. It’s become popular for being inclusive of all genders and abilities and has received funding from Arts Council England (ACE).
Many people would agree that our major cultural institutions should have the investment they need to be the best they can be; and also that the wider world of culture at the grassroots community level still, by its diverse nature, struggles to get the attention it deserves for improving our happiness and wellbeing. Maybe we need to shift the spotlight to the micro level and make further changes to empower local groups to provide more cultural opportunities and experiences. As everyone knows, a few hundred quid spent at the sharp end of a community project can be transformative for local people.
Setting aside recent global threats, local service cuts and an epidemic of venue closures, at the grassroots people are doing what they always do – getting on with building their own world as best they can at the local level.
Most of us experience cultural activity through a parallel universe from the big institutions – through local clubs, community organisations, libraries, festivals, markets, book groups, local history societies, record fairs, Open Mic nights, talent shows, cinema, cooking and gardening, drama and dance classes and a multitude of workshops and informal learning events. It’s vast, unpredictable, often eccentric, deeply felt, surprising (have you ever seen the Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green procession?) and impossible to pin down. Yes, money comes into it but it’s not the raison d’être.
I’ve often played in local pub music sessions. The truth is they can be rather cliquey so it was genuinely heartwarming to see ACE rewarding the regular music sessions at the Greenbank Pub in Bristol for actively promoting inclusion and creating a safe space for a wide range of people to express themselves. This is already spawning initiatives and activities among the participants and that (and a thousand other examples of small but important things) is going on all the time across the country.
Many times I’ve been in conversations with local community arts organisations who felt that natural human urge to expand. But, is bigger better? Especially in these mercurial times. Expansion for a community arts organisation often leads to a short period of increased resources followed by a hugely time-consuming struggle to maintain it, possibly at the expense of what they set out to do in the first place.
Culture is often used as a flagship to signal how great our country, region, city, town or village is. Can we adapt to resist the grand expansionist gesture and put more value on small and more affordable things that are accessible to everyone? That’s the glue that holds communities and wider society together. So what can be done to further enable that in these challenging times?
At the macro level everyone who cares about culture would welcome an all-encompassing national cultural and heritage strategy to at least point the way towards some objectives which most people and organisations can understand and support. However, as we all know, for many small cultural organisations and projects, national and regional policies are largely irrelevant. They just want to do what they want to do and unfortunately for some policy makers they’ll do it despite, not because, of all that. Helping them is more about removing obstacles on the tracks and leaving them alone.
The last comprehensive reform of local government was in 1974. Its various layers, regulations and responsibilities are now so complex that it’s hard for local people, and the elected members trying to help them, to navigate their way through. No easy answers for sure but further removing financial and bureaucratic burdens could pay dividends. Local government’s role is not to compete directly with the many things that the independent culture sector excels at. Local government has also, with the best intentions, sometimes supported the transfer of ownership of heritage or unwanted buildings which are largely unsuitable for arts and community use, to arts and community organisations who anyway exist on a knife edge, leaving them to live with that expensive legacy.
Instead it can focus on the things which the sector doesn’t or can’t provide – such as providing low or no cost space for communities of creative people. Government could take the bold step of removing VAT entirely (paying it, charging it and collecting it for HMRC) for not-for-profit organisations, venues and projects whose purpose is demonstrably to improve quality of life for local people. Local government could do more to remove all local taxation on community venues and cultural spaces (100% rate relief is often still discretionary), and in exploring ways to separate out the responsibilities of building ownership and maintenance from what goes on within the walls. Simplifying regulatory processes, more online and in-person advice, empowering local community partnerships with real decision making powers so it’s worth turning up to the meetings. There are many good examples where these things are happening but, considering the sharp rise in existential threats, it needs to go faster and further. In the meantime, I’ll be popping into The Greenbank Pub in Bristol for a drink and a few tunes. Cheers.
Paul James is an Associate Consultant with Activist Group. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Activist.